Month: April 2010

Is 11:00am on Sunday Monochromatic?

How I wonder how far we have come in America. Through the War for Independence, the abolition of slavery, the granting of women the right to vote, and the Civil and Voting Rights Act of 1964 and 1965 respectively. We as a nation have faced and overcame a plethora of challenges in between these times, and have emerged triumphant. In our modern era, our focus of what we are facing today is not just external, but is now internal as well. In this phase of the Church Age, we now must face, deal with and overcome how we feel toward each other in addition to keeping our focus on the world outside.

What do I mean by focusing internally? Ask yourself these two questions: Why do I believe what I believe and does Scripture support it? We as Christians typically shy away if not run from the face of internal adversity. Sure when it comes to spiritual warfare, many of us would shout “Bring it On”! but when it comes to displaying your integrity for the world to see and examine, are you still quite so eager?

Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”. Is that dream a reality in the Church? The answer from my perspective is sadly, no.

Why is that? I believe it is not for two reasons: First, That nearly fifty years after the speech was given, a church that is mostly made up of congregants who happened to be Black, is labeled in America as a “Black Church”. Why? I think the answer is in the four walls of the church itself. When the congregation members are more focused on the color of the believer, instead the One that they claim to believe in and the Pastor condones their actions by their silence, it could be a contributing factor. Secondly, if we understand through Scripture that of the seven things God hates is hands that shed innocent blood (see Proverbs 6:17) in addition to homosexual sex being an abomination (see Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:27), why would we by our own free will, elect someone to the Office of the President who has stated publicly on more than one occasion he would support them both if elected?

An accurate picture of the where the Church is, would be the city of San Francisco. Not the moral debauchery or the political corruption that takes there, but the make up of its citizenry. As they would shout to the world “Unity in Diversity” and how they make it work there, a closer look beyond the panoramic picture would tell a different story. As an example, how many Blacks live in Chinatown or Japantown? Probably as many Asians that live in the Bayview or the Hunter’s Point District, where a significant number of Blacks live. How many Hispanics live in North Beach where mostly Western Europeans live, as oppose to the Inner or Outer Mission where lot of Hispanics live? The point being is after the picture is taken, people go back to their own neighborhoods where most of the people look like them and they comfortable in their own skin. If there is no Jew or Greek, no bond or free, no male or female, but only one in Christ (see Galatians 3:28) why doesn’t the Church in America reflect that?

Are we as Christians embracing the lie that only the souls of men need to be saved? Or in addition to their salvation, are we disclosing that there comes a responsibility of stewarding their God-given rights of whom should be allowed to govern us according to Scripture? If we knew as much about the stewardship of our vote and the guardianship of our rights as much as the Church knows pop culture, the political landscape today would be completely different.

ENDA to End Game: The Legal Persecution of the Church

In my last entry: Style over Substance: The Fight in the Church I wrote how the content being preached in our nation’s churches is more emotion driven than thought driven. That we have turned out a nation of Christians that are more in touch with their feelings than the Word of God. The end result of this is our election of a body of atheistic, self-centered, and ego-maniacal legislators that have absolutely no regard for the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, or the desires of the constituents who sent them to Washington in the first place.

I have said in past entries: “Check your government before the government checks you”. This is precisely the reason why. After the legislators by force took over 17% of the nation GDP via healthcare, they are now set on to destroying why you believe what you believe. Enter the Employment Non-Discrimination Act or ENDA (see HR. 3017 and S. 1584). Even though both pieces of legislation provides religious exemptions (see Section 6 in both of them), If the Congress or the Equal Employment Occupation Commission (EEOC) is successfully able to redefine marriage then churches who would not hire people whose lifestyle does not fit into their employment criteria would be in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The EEOC’s definition of discrimination includes:

Denying employment opportunities to a person because of marriage to, or association with, an individual of a particular race, religion, national origin, or an individual with a disability. Title VII also prohibits discrimination because of participation in schools or places of worship associated with a particular racial, ethnic, or religious group (see http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html). In essence, a back door (no pun intended) has been placed in the legislation. My conclusion is solidified with the comment of the new EEOC director Chai Fieldblum, an open lesbian who was appointed during the Easter Congressional recess when she gave her response concerning this issue, “Gays Win. Christians Lose”.

While we all need to be on faces crying out to God, when do we get up to fight? Solomon talked about there is a time and season for everything under Heaven: A time to cry; a time to make war (see Ecclesiastes 3:1,4,8)
Ask yourself when does the war time start?

Style Over Substance: The Fight in the Church

Over the last 40 years or so, we the Church have a developed a “Me Too” mentality. When the world has nice buildings we said “Me Too” and we built them. When the world drives nice cars we said, “Me Too”, and we bought and drove them. We are more in tuned with our five senses than the Truth of the Word of God. In essence we have moved from being an ecclesia that gets its identity based on the way we think, to a Body based on how we feel. I do not have an issue with having nice things. It is when the things have us they become the stumbling block, instead of the stepping stone they were designed to be.

So it is with the preached Word of God. It has become a stumbling block because we have abandoned how the Word makes us think and embraced how the Word makes us feel. This is why seeker-sensitive churches are all the rage instead of doctrinally correct ones. We are drawn to the appeal of our five senses of telling us we are “ok”, rather than being convicted of sin by the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is by this very process the Church can draw a large crowd, but no change has taken place in the hearts and minds of the congregation.

Since the inception of our country, the church house has been a place of not only a reservoir of God’s word, but where public policy was to be shaped and patterned. The preacher was regarded as one of the most prestigious offices a person could hold. The steeple made the church building one of, if not the tallest building in a town as a memorial that the townspeople held God above all else. As a result, we have enjoyed very little military and civil upheaval as compared to other countries in world history, in addition to great economic expansion. To that end we as a nation by employing this great experiment to include God as the center of our nation, and in conjunction to purposely limit the encroachment of government on its citizens has not only defied conventional wisdom, it is the secret to our success.

Please understand this piece is not an opine to some “Old time religion”. Rather, this should be viewed as a mirror to Church leadership as well as to ourselves. Is what we are doing everyday – not just Sundays and Wednesdays, permeating the culture to a level that His conviction causes people to change? Or is the Gospel which God defines as Holy, been watered down and viewed as common to such a degree that anyone with a pulse is deemed a Christian? This is a question all of us would need to ask. First as the author of this piece and then to you, the reader. Next, those that we consider family and friends. Lastly, those we meet in everyday life.

When we all can answer this question truthfully and begin to make the necessary adjustments, then we will elect the correct candidates for public office which will be based the Scriptural Truth instead of being lead by a feeling. If the Lord should tarry in His coming and the change becomes permanent, we won’t have to guess on what Heaven would look like, we would see it here.

April 15th is soon approaching. Americans are getting their affairs in order in able to pay tribute (taxes) to Caesar (the U.S. government). While there is a flurry of activity in tax offices and home offices around the country, I am reminded of why the TEA party movement got started. The TEA in TEA party stands for Taxed Enough Already. These are ordinary people like you and me, who had enough with “obeying the laws of the land”. They were reminded about what our country really stood for: Freedom to choose a path based on their decision, not their social or economic status. Freedom to choose how much or how little generosity they displayed to those in need. Most importantly, the freedom to worship and serve God how they choose. When the first two freedoms are being encroached on, the TEA party sprang into activism. As the last freedom is being stripped away, the Church in America is eerily silent.

Our freedom to worship God as Scripture calls for is the glue that holds our nation together. Our responsibility as the Church is to show the nation how the “glue” is supposed to be applied. The glue is supposed to be present in all areas, but especially in government. Because the glue is conspicuously absent in this area, the “papers” of righteousness have no way of sticking together and will inevitably fall apart. As much as prayer is needed, as much as fasting is encouraged, it is only by action will the rest of America understand Who is the tie that binds us together.

Benjamin Franklin opened up the Constitutional Convention with this prayer: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh (stays awake) but in vain” (See Psalm 127:1). He understood the one thing the Church in America continues to miss: Regardless if it is the church house or the White House it is the Lord that builds it.

We must as a nation return to the founding principles of our Fathers. For their foundation is the Word of God and God of the Word. In the day in which we live, our foundation is crumbling and in decay. That decay can be found all areas: Economically, Morally, and Spiritually. For Scripture says “If the foundations are destroyed what will the righteous do”? (see Psalms 11:3) it is long overdue that we the righteous examine the decay, root it out and with God’s direction, rebuild the foundation of our nation.

In order to build anything correctly the plans must be understood and followed. God has left us a blueprint (the Bible). He has instructed all of to act as a “Forman” and build His house. However, it seems that the blueprint have been banned from being used and the house is being constructed “freehand”. This is the precise reason why the nation is frustrated, fearful, and angry because the construction office (the church) has been hijacked by individuals who may a degree in construction (Theology), but can’t (or won’t) read the plans right and have installed the toilet (those that are a detriment to our health) on top the roof (government). Since the installation of the plumbing (direction) is not understood, this is the reason why we have waste all over the front of our house. As a result, we are emitting a stench our neighbors can’t stand, and we are getting sick because the waste has not been properly disposed of.

It is time for the remnant in the Church to retake the construction office, don “bunny suits” (the Lord’s protection and ability) and clean up the mess. In addition to that, we must crack open the blueprint again and reconstruct this house so that we can add the beauty of the Lord to the neighborhood.

We as Americans have been debating healthcare reform for more than a year. Regardless of whether the debate takes place in the school house, the church house, or in the Capitol, it has been on the minds and lips of all of us.

It has been revealed that our representatives voted on legislation that they haven’t read. It has also been revealed that these same representatives are exempt from the very law that they created for us. Obama has signed this bill into law. The benefits of this bill are “back loaded”, meaning you will receive any of them after a certain amount of time passes. The reason for that is you will have to pay for them up front in the form of higher taxes now. Obama has said publically that his intent is to systematically change our form of government. Thereby changing how we do, think, and act as a people.

In this bill, he has even gone to the length of instituting a “draft” (see HR 3590 Section 5210 subsection 203) where YOU can be “called up” without notice or warning and sent to assist in an “medical emergency” regardless if it occurs on domestic or foreign soil (See subsections 203, paragraphs C and D on pages 1314 and 1315). Since Pastors admonish us to “Obey the laws of the land”, are they telling us to obey this law also? A law that has the possibility of tearing families apart. What if an “emergency” breaks out in Argentina and Afghanistan at the same time? The parents would then be separated and one goes to each respective country, who takes care of the children? A perfect opportunity for the State to seize them and mold them into their image instead of God’s.

We as a nation and as a people are truly in a crisis state: Spiritually, Morally, Politically, and Economically. Only God Himself can get us out this mess. Not because He’s God and He can do anything, but because we have ignored our freedoms and trampled on the rights given to us by Him. We have been led astray by both political and spiritual leadership that has taught us through their word and demonstration that the stewarding of the rights and freedoms God gave us is not necessary.

Can we as a nation turn this around with our repentance and God’s help and direction? To quote Obama, “Yes We Can”! It is time for the citizens of this country in general and the Church in particular to rise up and rehabilitate our government to serve us, before the sickly state of our government debilitates us into a collective slavery where it becomes the master of us all.